You’ve seen the video. Now read what compelled Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon to bring 80s horror icon Freddy Kruger to Mortal Kombat as a downloadable guest character this August. In discussing the news with the PlayStation.Blog, Boon shed light on the long, sometimes tangled genesis of Mortal’s Kombat’s other DLC characters — namely Rain, Skarlet, and Kenshi. One began as a joke, one was an incorrect rumor, and one…well, you’ll see.

Look for Freddy to hit PSN on August 9th for $4.99, and read on for my full chat with Ed Boon.

PlayStation.Blog: So what is the inspiration for bringing Freddy Krueger to Mortal Kombat as a DLC character?Ed Boon, Creative Director, Netherrealm Studios: It was a number of things. It’s kind of hard to choose a character who would fit well into the Mortal Kombat universe, with the blood and violence that’s so associated with it. Kratos from God of War is a brutal, bloody character, so he makes sense. When we had the discussions about the DLC characters, we knew that we wanted to add a returning character, a new character, but also a guest character. That was one of the goals right from the beginning. A number of names were run by us: Jason, Michael Myers and all those guys. Freddy Kreuger, we felt, was the most instantly recognizable and he fits in with Mortal Kombat with his claws. It just seemed like the best fit.

PSB: Did you base Freddy off the 80s films or the reboot movie from a few years back?
Well…that’s a good question. We didn’t try to make him look like the actor Robert Englund, I don’t even know if we would be allowed to….Admittedly, I didn’t see the latest movie, the remake. But obviously the first few movies were huge — they left an undeniable mark on pop culture. When I look at him, I think of the original Freddy: he’s got the striped sweater and is instantly recognizable. He’s Freddy in general, we don’t really identify him as one version or another.

PSB: Freddy isn’t exactly a martial artist. How does he keep up with the kombatants?
[laughs] He doesn’t fight like a martial artist, either! We gave him two claws, which we explain in his character bio, so you can almost imagine a Baraka with shorter blades that are always out. He’s got lots of swipes, he can send his claws creepy-crawling on the ground or flying through the air. He can dig into the ground and the claws will come up under his opponent. He’s very claw-centric.

PSB: Will Freddy’s ability to invade his victims’ dreams play into his Mortal Kombat incarnation in any way?
Yeah, you’ll see some of that. His story ending really plays into that. In the middle of a fight, you won’t see him entering a guy’s head in a dream sequence or anything, but there is plenty of dream-related stuff in his introduction animation, his victory stance, his fatalities and so forth.

PSB: Ten, 15 years ago when Mortal Kombat was early in its lifespan, did you ever fantasize about getting Freddy Krueger into MK?
Yeah, yeah. Over the years, we’ve certainly had a number of conversations about guest characters. At one point, we had a conversation about having a group — imagine Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers, Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre — of all these killers from the 80s and 90s flicks come in as a group of characters. We never got a grip on how we would do it, whether they’d be DLC characters or what. But yes, we’ve had lots of conversations over the years. We also wanted to introduce a character who was unexpected. This DLC thing opens the doors to realizing these ideas. Kratos was one we discussed as a DLC character a number of times, but luckily we could include him as the initial cast of characters [in the PS3 version]. With Freddy, we felt like the stars had aligned — it was time to do it.

PSB: What is your process for choosing DLC characters? Why did you begin with Kenshi, who was the only character from the Deadly Alliance games to make the jump?
I’ve personally always big a big fan of Kenshi, as were many of the guys on the MK team. So we gravitated to Kenshi. We always knew we’d add Rain right from the beginning. I was bombarded for weeks on Twitter with fans begging for Rain, so I had a little fun with it. Each DLC character, I believe, satisfies a certain group of our audience that we knew was clamoring for it.

PSB: Speaking of Rain, he was originally hinted at in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. What was the genesis of Rain?
Rain was me being a jerk, basically. [laughs] When we were working on Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, I was thinking “what ninja color have we not done yet?” … and I’m a huge Prince fan, so I was thinking Purple Rain. I was probably still listening to the album. There was no time to actually make a character, because the game was done. So I hacked into the attract screen a quick little sequence of this purple ninja running at Shao Kahn. We didn’t even have the word “Rain” in the powerbar, so I manually built it using our font. So I included this quick glimpse just to drive people crazy. Once Mortal Kombat Trilogy came out, we gave Rain new moves and he finally became a real character. Later we brought him back for Mortal Kombat Armageddon. That’s one of the things about Mortal Kombat: many of the characters have these goofy development histories. Noob Saibot, Reptile…all of these odd origin stories.

PSB: What about Skarlet? She was a rumored secret character from MKII, right?
She was a completely rumored character. She never existed, she was born out of a rumor. It got such legs that a name actually came out of it; there was never a glitch that turned Kitana red, that never existed. That was just an urban legend like Animalities and Ermac — a rumor that we eventually wanted to make true.

Interesting read. I can’t bring myself to get the game because it’s just… too graphic for me. I don’t mind the blood like in God Of War, but the bones and such getting cracked… *shivers*. But it’s cool how they came up with characters, stuck them in, etc.

This character SUCKS!!! WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!!!!! I was hoping for MK related character. I am sad I´m nor going to buy. “Thx the gods” lol, that we already have an extra character and it is KRATOS!!!!

Kind of disappointed that the 4th character is Kreuger, a half baked left over from the 80’s. I’m sure the MK team did a great job bringing such an uninteresting character to the game. I would have rathered a new original character or some sort of short term team up with another fighting game.

Anyway when can we expect a DLC complete version on disc of this game? I refuse to buy it until all of the characters come preloaded on a bluray.

“He’s Freddy in general, we don’t really identify him as one version or another”

No Boon. It’s reboot Freddy and you know it, so don’t try to pass it off as if it’s not. WB probably forced NRS to use reboot Freddy because new comers to the series only know reboot Freddy and they are probably wanting to make more sequels based on the remake, so they want to keep consistency. No point in lying about it.

Don’t get me wrong, I love MK but Freddy? Really? I would much rather have some one like Bo Ri Cho ( Not sure how to spell his name) or anyone else but Freddy. I don’t think I’m getting this DLC character. Maybe it’s because I just could get into a Nightmare on Elm Street movie, any of them, but please put in someone cooler next. Maybe Duke Nukem! lol just kidding.

wow ppl are stupid enough to buy this crap…..the crap game cost fifty bucks alone but to add more characters is 20 more bucks what ever happened to beating the game to unlock extra players….freddy has one claw in his movies why 2…who makes this stuff up….. whos the next unlockable jigglepuff from pokemon

I think Freddy Krueger will be a great character in MK9. I also think putting Jason, Micheal Myers, and Leatherface would be great additions to MK9 as well. Why not put Dante and Nero from Devil May Cry 4 as a DLC? There hellish looks blends in with most Mk9 characters such as Scorpion, Ermac, Quan-Chi, etc. You should definitely put more serial killers in Mk9 because that would be legit. Thanks and if you all need idea’s i got em’!.

Wow putting freddy in here just makes it more AWSOME!! i love all the dlc characters and cant wait until freddy comes out! im definatly getting the game and the dlc! Thanks PSN! Your the best!

PS: I was wondering when would these games go on sale?- Castle Crashers, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Plants vs Zombies? hopefully soon cuz i really want to get them! and also COD: World at war map pack bundle! im really interested in tht one but its kinda alot $25 :[

Hmmm…. What Is “Cool” About Haveing A Horror Movie PEDOPHILE-SERIAL KILLER As A Playable Character In MORTAL KOMBAT? … I Mean… If You Were To Have Michael Myers As A Playable DLC Choice, THAT Would Be “Cooler” Than Popularizeing A Character Whose Claim To Fame Is That He Was/Is A Serial Murderer AND A PEDOPHILE Who Comes Back From The Dead To Terrorize Children In Their Dreams!!!
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I Think That You Guys In The MK Franchise Have Done SomeThing Stupid In Glamourizeing Freddy Kruegar AS A Playable Character.
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Really… WHAT Is So “Cool” In THAT Move?

I would buy the characters but for 5.99 plus tax for 1 character its too much also the the free pack give 2 costumes anyway so it not like im getting anything new i say sell them at 1.99 and I buy them or come out with a 4 pack deal that cost 9.99 itsjust to pricey for me not gonna spend $18+ on a $60 that I dont play alot anyway

Hey… I Have A Suggestion To You Mr. Boon… Obviously You MK Dudes Have Been Listening To WAY TOO MUCH “KORN”… So….How About INSTEAD Of “Freddy Kruegar”… (Whose Character Is A “SUPER-PEDOPHILE”.)…
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MayBe…. You Can Replace Him With The Hero From That Classic Video Game “SPLATTERHOUSE”!!!
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Now… THAT Would Be Freaking AWESOME To Play Mortal Kombat As THAT CHARACTER!!!

This may be one of the best guest characters ever. I need this game. Any one who says that this sucks is just too soft to play MK in the first place, Freddy is my hero in the horror genre. HEY BOON please try to get all of the master slasher mentioned above into the game. You are the man.

ok, freddys only a pedophile in the new movie, not the originals. i dont wanna sound like everyone else naming off all the horror icons to be put into this game, but ash from army of darkness just needs to be in this game

I cant wait.I am a huge freddy fan.I think he will be a great addition to mortal kombat.Thank You Ed Boon! I just hope it dont stop there I hope they add all the the major horror icons into the game. It would be like Terrordrome but much better. This Mortal Kombat is quickly becoming one of the greats.